Éamon Ó Cuív (Galway West, Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

I am still intrigued. There are four counties involved. In respect of the counties involved the number of days on which the ferries do not sail are very few and far between, especially if we omit the months of December and January when it is unlikely that any election will be held. Even if an election was called in January it is likely to be held in February.

It is amazing that there is no problem with doing this every time in Cork and that the Cork returning officer does not consider there is any risk to the boxes not being at the count centre on time. Invariably he does it on the same day. An island such as oileán Cléire would not have the same level of services as the Aran islands. It would not have anything like the services Arranmore island in Donegal has which is an inshore island right beside the coast. Will the Minister of State explain why it is that Arranmore, for example, would fail to get the boxes to the count centre on time rather than, say, places in County Wicklow because of snow? Why is it that those people have to vote two days earlier, thus missing out on the end of the campaign given that in Cork it can always be done on the same day and it has never failed those concerned to get the count done expeditiously.

Evidence shows there is no justification for the decisions being taken. It is inconceivable that one has to wait two days for boxes to come in. That is the situation in Mayo and Donegal without any difference between the islands, which is also extraordinary. No account is taken of the difference between inshore islands or outshore islands and nobody bothers to look at the record of non-sailings and so on and, therefore, there is no validity to the case. As I have said, one of the returning officers, or maybe different people over a long period, invariably makes the sensible decision that times have moved on and that this is a spurious provision that is not needed. Two of the returning officers think it takes two days to get in and out of the island and one thinks it takes an extra day. There is no logic to that because if one looks at failed sailings, which is not the only way of bringing in boxes from the island, one will find there is no rationale in the way these decisions are being made. I am very disappointed at the position being taken by the Government on this matter. It does not seem to have examined it analytically and rationally and that it has simply dug in its heels and said it is not going there.

I regret I was Minister for the Environment, Community and Local Government for only five weeks. During most of that period there was an election underway and I could not bring in the legislation to have this matter rectified. In ten or 20 years time people would wonder what that provision had been all about when piers, boats, etc., had all changed radically and there were aeroplanes on the island.

I ask the Minister of State to reconsider her decision. If she cannot do so this evening I suggest she reconsider it when it goes to the Seanad after which it come back to this House. She can give the democratic rights which are being denied to the islanders. Basically, this is a denial of democratic rights to people in our society.

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